bill berry

#jazzchurch 50 – Sunday, April 11, 2021 – featured music by Ahmad Jamal, Betty Carter, Christian McBride, Damian Erskine, Dr. Buzzard’s “Original Savannah Band”, LaBelle, Luther Vandross, Sam & Dave, Tom Harrell, Wes Montgomery, and the Yellowjackets, among others shown below:

1. Downtown (Yellowjackets & WDR Big Band)
2. Island Life (Dana Landry & Gary Burton)
3. A Day in the Life (Wes Montgomery)
4. VA (Tom Harrell)
5. But Beautiful (Gregory Porter)
6. Everybody Loves the Sunshine (Kan Sano)
7. 3 Secrets (Three views of a secret) (Sashird Lao feat. Ferruccio Spinetti)
8. To the Rest (Damian Erskine feat. George Colligan, Tom Guarna & Reinhardt Melz)
9. Day Dream (Betty Carter)
10. Biencavo (Ahmad Jamal)
11. Blackbird Fantasy (Bria Skonberg)
12. Klact-Oveeseds-Tene (Christian McBride, Roy Hargrove & Stephen Scott)
13. When Something Is Wrong With My Baby (Sam & Dave)
14. Don’t Know Why (Pat Metheny)
15. I’ll Play The Fool (Dr. Buzzard’s)
16. Boogie Oogie Oogie (A Taste of Honey)
17. Cherchez La Femme/Se Si Bon (Dr. Buzzard’s)
18. Who By Now (Damian Erskine feat. George Colligan, Reinhardt Melz & Tom Guarna)
19. Bruca Maniguá (Buena Vista Social Club feat. Ibrahim Ferrer)
20. That’s All (Orrin Evans)
21. Old Bill (Ranky Tanky)
22. All for You (Ranky Tanky)
23. Afro Blue (Harold Mabern feat. Gregory Porter)
24. Like Elvin (Yellowjackets)
25. A House Is Not a Home (Luther Vandross)
26. Edith and the Kingpin (Herbie Hancock feat. Tina Turner)
27. Going Down Makes Me Shiver (LaBelle)
28. Gypsy Moths (LaBelle)
29. The Sound of Sunshine (Michael Franti & Spearhead)
30. Treat ‘Em Right (Unwrapped)
31. All My Troubles (Demuja)

Apple Music Playlist

Here’s an Apple Music Playlist containing songs from this episode of #JazzChurch:

Next week’s #jazzchurch livestream can be found at postbop.com/jazzchurch Streaming live from 1-4ish PM PDT. Past episodes are available here as well.

Where else can I find #JazzChurch?

• Postbop.com: Livestream plus audio archives and information for all past shows
• Twitch Livestream: 1-3pm-ish PDT on Sundays plus audio/video of recent shows
• Soundcloud: Listen to past shows and subscribe to receive notifications and listen to future shows

Here’s a great podcast episode about The Real Book and the impact it has had on jazz. There’s a really cool backstory as well!

The Real Book - 99% Invisible

Since the mid-1970s, almost every jazz musician has owned a copy of the same book. It has a peach-colored cover, a chunky, 1970s-style logo, and a black plastic binding. It’s delightfully homemade-looking—like it was printed by a bunch of teenagers at a Kinkos. And inside is the sheet music for hundreds of common jazz tunes—also known as jazz “standards”—all meticulously notated by hand. It’s called the Real Book.

But if you were going to music school in the 1970s, you couldn’t just buy a copy of the Real Book at the campus bookstore. Because the Real Book… was illegal. The world’s most popular collection of Jazz music was a totally unlicensed publication. It was a self-published book created without permission from music publishers or songwriters. It was duplicated at photocopy shops and sold on street corners, out of the trunks of cars, and under the table at music stores where people used secret code words to make the exchange. The full story of how the Real Book came to be this bootleg bible of jazz is a complicated one. It’s a story about what happens when an insurgent, improvisational art form like Jazz gets codified and becomes something that you can learn from a book.

I have an iPad app called the unrealBook filled with every song from at least 15 fake or real books. It’s a good starting place, but the very idea of jazz music is to invent new ways of playing songs.

I love this cartoon by Brian King.

It reminded me of this song by Joe Williams👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

I noticed these signs while taking a walk along the Cushman Trail…

Alas, a couple of days later, the signs were missing.

I found one though…

Not everyone buys-in to the dream!

#jazzchurch 49 – Sunday, April 4, 2021 – featured music by Wynton Marsalis, Joe Williams, Tom Harrell, Robert Hurst, Andy Bey, Martin Luther King, Jr., Marcus Miller, Darrell Grant, Richie Havens, Richie Havens, Rickie Lee Jones, Norah Jones, and Jessica Williams, among others shown below:

1. I’ll Remember April (Wynton Marsalis Septet)
2. April in Paris (Joe Williams)
3. April (Dick Oatts, Don Braden & Vincent Herring)
4. April Mist (Tom Harrell)
5. April Foolproof (Robert Hurst)
6. I’ll Remember April (Andy Bey)
7. I’ve Been to the Mountaintop (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
8. The Geography of Hope (I Am Music) (Darrell Grant)
9. Goin’ Home (Archie Shepp & Horace Parlan)
10. Things Are Getting Better (Cannonball Adderley & Milt Jackson)
11. So What (Marcus Miller)
12. Here Comes the Sun (Live) (Richie Havens)
13. I Can See Clearly Now (Richie Havens)
14. The Black Angel (Freddie Hubbard)
15. Dual Force (Freddie Hubbard)
16. Chuck E’s in Love (Rickie Lee Jones)
17. Trouble Man (Joni Mitchell & Kyle Eastwood)
18. Don’t Know Why (Norah Jones)
19. Say It Over and Over Again (Jessica Williams)
20. Bang Bang (Dizzy Gillespie)
21. Preacher’s Kid (feat. Take 6, Kirk Whalum & Alex Han) (Marcus Miller)
22. Trip Trap (Marcus Miller)
23. Blast (Marcus Miller)
24. Soul Vaccination (Tower Of Power)
25. This Is the Movie (Jon Balke)
26. Tomorrow Land (John Scofield)
27. Old Folks (Lou Rawls)
28. Lost My Love (DJ Amir & Re.Decay Jazz Re.Imagined Remix) (Kenny Cox)
29. Flash Light (Parliament)

Apple Music Playlist

Here’s an Apple Music Playlist containing songs from this episode of #JazzChurch:

Next week’s #jazzchurch livestream can be found at postbop.com/jazzchurch Streaming live from 1-4ish PM PDT. Past episodes are available here as well.

Where else can I find #JazzChurch?

• Postbop.com: Livestream plus audio archives and information for all past shows
• Twitch Livestream: 1-3pm-ish PDT on Sundays plus audio/video of recent shows
• Soundcloud: Listen to past shows and subscribe to receive notifications and listen to future shows

Why is there no April Fool’s Day this year? This is incredibly disappointing. #AprilFoolsDay
– Sandy Boynton

A. Nothing seems funny (COVID-19, deaths, Jan. 6 insurrection, mass murders, political division, etc). We feel guilty if we even smile?

”I’m not the only one on-screen right now who has been falsely accused of a terrible sex act…“
– Rep. Matt Gaetz

John Coltrane Gets Us In The Spirit!!

#jazzchurch 48 – Sunday, March 28, 2021 – featured music by John Coltrane, Hugh Masekela, Cedar Walton, Stevie Wonder, Donald Byrd, Oregon, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Talking Heads, and James Brown, among others shown below:

1. A Little This, A Little That (Charles Fambrough)
2. Mojo Highway (Marc Johnson)
3. Dear Lord (John Coltrane Quartet)
4. Wise One (John Coltrane)
5. Tunji (John Coltrane Quartet)
6. Spiritual – Live at Village Vanguard 1961 (John Coltrane Quartet)
7. Across The Crystal Sea (Danilo Perez)
8. Dr. Schacher Seppli (Bänz Öster & The Rainmakers)
9. Riot (Hugh Masekela)
10. U-Dwi (Hugh Masekela)
11. Impressions (John Coltrane)
12. Martha’s Prize (Cedar Walton)
13. Minor Controversy (Cedar Walton)
14. You Haven’t Done Nothin’ (Stevie Wonder)
15. Flight Time (Donald Byrd)
16. Amaryllis (Oregon)
17. Dolphin Dance(Herbie Hancock)
18. Psalm (Chick Corea)
19. Burning Down the House (Talking Heads)
20. (Fallin’ Like) Dominoes (Donald Byrd)
21. It’s A New Day (James Brown)

Apple Music Playlist

Here’s an Apple Music Playlist containing songs from this episode of #JazzChurch:

Next week’s #jazzchurch livestream can be found at postbop.com/jazzchurch Streaming live from 1-4ish PM PDT. Past episodes are available here as well.

Where else can I find #JazzChurch?

• Postbop.com: Livestream plus audio archives and information for all past shows
• Twitch Livestream: 1-3pm-ish PDT on Sundays plus audio/video of recent shows
• Soundcloud: Listen to past shows and subscribe to receive notifications and listen to future shows

True?

Cabin in the Woods! Free yoga classes in the morning, followed by awesome coffee (or tea) and all the bacon you can eat!!! #Winning!!!!

“You’ve stumped me!” Not the best way to respond to a question, perhaps, but certainly truthful and human! #cantpossiblyknowitall!!

On the other hand, we received approval for debt-related transactions that saved our customers over $140 million since 2015.

“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The next best time is right now!”
– Chinese Proverb
– as told by Victor Wooten

Bill E. Bob’s very first #EveryDayPhoto, taken March 24, 2011, #10YearsAgoToday!

“yes! nerds don’t love everything. nerds love what they love! to the extent I’m a nerd, I’m loving different stuff than I thought I would’ve loved a long time ago. and I’m okay with that!”
– Bill E. Bob, 3/24/2013

“Love is always the goal,
but pain is what connects all of us.”
– Woody Shaw

Photo: Tom Marcello, 1978

Once upon a time, 27 years ago, this guy I know accidentally created an internet magazine called Meanderings, beginning with this article:

The Female Touch:

Before I begin, I should tell you a little story. I was born of the Colored/Negro/Afro American/Black/African-American persuasion (although I’m still, 42 years later, trying to figure out exactly what that means!). However, in 1984 while attending a finance seminar at the University of Michigan, I, along with my seminar mates, filled out a “lifestyles survey,” designed to tell us the risk of various aspects in our lifestyle, like smoking and drinking, killing us before the age of 50. Being only 32 at the time, I was really interested. When I got the survey results back, I was shocked. I didn’t smoke, rarely drank, was an avid runner and tennis player, so I was in excellent shape. Nevertheless, it seems I had a very high risk of dying young. The reason: I was black! We’ve all heard the statistics about young black men having a high risk of violent death at a young age. Well, there you go.

Most of the others attending the class had no such risk, but they were all white. When I asked aloud about the results, the surveyor explained that the sample upon which the survey’s predictions were based contained very few blacks. He also said not to worry: given my occupation, income, lifestyle, excellent health, etc., the survey results really didn’t apply to me. For purposes of reading the results and determining my risk of early death, I was “white.” So, in the future, if I write something you don’t like, please don’t call me an uncle tom, because, I’m really white!

There’s more to the story, so read on.

I chatted with the author recently. He told me he wishes he had better editing back then. Go figure!

some of my best ideas started out as miss-takes…

#OutwardImprovisation!!!

“The best thing about facilitating is not what you prepared for. It’s what is called (or pulled) out of you by the need in the room at the time.”
– Jim Ferrell

Joyspring is Here (and Can Really Hang You Up the Most)!!

#jazzchurch 47 – Sunday, March 21, 2021 – featured music by Ben Wendel, Houston Person & Ron Carter, Charlie Haden & Kenny Barron, Walter Norris & George Mraz, Cesar Camargo Mariano & Romero Lubambo, The 5th Dimension, Tony Williams, and Earth, Wind & Fire, among others shown below:

1. Impromptu (The Rodriguez Brothers)
2. March (Ben Wendel)
3. Joy Spring (Houston Person & Ron Carter)
4. Spring Is Here (Charlie Haden & Kenny Barron)
5. Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most (Walter Norris & George Mraz)
6. It Might As Well Be Spring (Sonny Stitt)
7. Joy Spring (Cesar Camargo Mariano & Romero Lubambo)
8. ny 2000 (Donald Harrison)
9. I’m Gonna Be Happy (Freddie Redd)
10. Blues In Motian (Charlie Haden, Paul Motian & Geri Allen)
11. Strivers’ Jewels (Buster Williams)
12. Rise and Shine (Robert Glasper)
13. Geo Rose (Tony Williams)
14. Turnaround (Charlie Haden feat. Hampton Hawes)
15. Inner Urge (The Blue Note 7)
16. Deeds, Not Words (Max Roach)
17. When We Were Free (Pat Metheny)
18. For Duke P. (Bobby Hutcherson)
19. Stoned Soul Picnic (The 5th Dimension)
20. Funkin’ for Jamaica (Tom Browne)
21. Mr. Spock (Tony Williams Lifetime)
22. Be Ever Wonderful (Earth, Wind & Fire)

Apple Music Playlist

Here’s an Apple Music Playlist containing songs from this episode of #JazzChurch:

Next week’s #jazzchurch livestream can be found at postbop.com/jazzchurch Streaming live from 1-4ish PM PDT. Past episodes are available here as well.

Where else can I find #JazzChurch?

• Postbop.com: Livestream plus audio archives and information for all past shows
• Twitch Livestream: 1-3pm-ish PDT on Sundays plus audio/video of recent shows
• Soundcloud: Listen to past shows and subscribe to receive notifications and listen to future shows

Things are getting better…

3/20/2020: So this is what being a (self-proclaimed) Chief High-Five Officer has come to!

#StaySafe!
#TakeCareOfYourself!
#ideasfor2020!

I’m thinking about maybe doing a podcast. What on earth would I talk about? Who would be good guests? Any ideas?

It’s a paradox. #TheMountainIsOut and the sky is at its most colorful best during early winter mornings. That’s also when the Mountain and colorful sky are visible the least. I’m always looking, frequently disappointed, yet always appreciative.

I’m up early and can see the outline of Mount Rainier. I think, “Today’s the day! It’s gonna happen!”

Then the fog rolls in. 👎🏾👎🏾👎🏾

#ThatsLife!

“In the last 50 years, out of almost 3 billion votes cast, there have been about 1,500 proven instances of voter fraud in the U.S. 1.5 million people have died from guns in the same 50 year period. Republicans are more interested in putting restrictions on voters than they are on guns.”
– Matthew Dowd

Black and brown voters. Young voters. Democratic voters.

”If you cannot explain something in simple terms, you don’t understand it.“
– Prof. Richard Feynman